Minutes of the Forum meeting & AGM held on Wednesday, 11th January 2023,
held online via Zoom

1.    Attendance.
Andrew Jenkins (Chair), Geoff Snare (Secretary), Jane Cooper, Lis Reid, Richard Goad, Lynn
Henstock, Mike Vardy, Sallie Vardy, Julian Mclean, Lee Haywood, Becky Stevenson, Louise
Causer

Apologies: Terry Whitehead, Doug Edwards 

2.    Minutes. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record.    
Matters Arising - there were no matters arising

3.    Treasurers Report.
Opening balance for the year - £798.66
Income/Expenditure:
Income - £200 (donation from Vine Tree)
Expenditure - £421.28
(£15.93 hole punches Louise, £168.99 fridge, £212.36 liability insurance, £24 food share
course)
Closing balance - £577.38
In addition we have been promised £500 from Cllr Helen-Ann Smith, which should arrive
before the end of February.

4.    Planning and Environment - Richard Goad

Richard Goad outlined the main planning applications that were active at the moment:
a. Pleasley Road, adjacent to Station Farm – some activity clearing the entrance to the
site; apparently doubt has been expressed by Notts Highways regarding the
applicants traffic survey, and they may conduct a survey of their own - still awaiting
full planning application
b. No change on the Persimmon Home development off Coppywood Close
c. Whiteboro Farm application has been refused (thanks to Lynn Henstock for her
efforts on this)
d. Land adjacent to the Teversal Caravan Park – proposal for 8 dwellings, submitted by
Michael Hollis – formal objection has been submitted by the Forum (thanks to Lis
Reid & Mike Vardy)
e. The caravan site itself has now been sold to the Welsh family
f. Richard reminded everyone that even if the Forum makes a formal objection, which
should carry more weight than an individual objection, every individual objection
does add weight to the local voices against the application and the more objections
the greater consideration to those objections will be given by the council

5.    Friends of Stanton Hill – Louise Causer / Jane Cooper

Jane Cooper reported that a Santa display had been created in the Coop garden, but that
the Santa had been stolen. This was in addition to the Remembrance poppies and yarn
bombing that had taken place earlier in the Autumn.
Lee Haywood reported that open social events would be held at the Rose & Crown pub
every Wednesday for an hour, for anyone feeling lonely; free tea & coffee and baps from
the Cob Shop, plus free wifi; dates and time will be increased if demand is there

6.    Heritage – Lynn Henstock

Lynn Henstock reported that the planning application at Whiteboro Farm has been refused and the footpath affected is to be re-instated

7.    Climate Change & Sustainability – Andrew Jenkins

Andrew Jenkins reported the following:
a. Added Sustainability to the group title to reflect additional activities including the
Library Food Share program
b. The Food Share program is thriving, user numbers have doubled since June and
there are now 10 volunteers
c. There are now an increasing number of organisations donating non-perishable food
stuffs, including St Andrew’s and St Katharine’s churches and ‘Charity Without
Borders’ in Skegby
d. The group is in discussion with ADC regarding the Council’s climate change strategy
and action plan – and an in-person meeting is scheduled for later in January
e. The group proposed that a draft a Climate Change ‘pledge’ be put to all candidates
for the local elections in May – the meeting agreed and asked the group to propose
some suitable wording

8.    Public Transport – Mike Vardy

Mike Vardy reported that there had been no significant activity and he was waiting on
feedback from Helen-Ann Smith
Richard Goad raised the topic of the state of the roads, in particular the stretch of the
B6014 (Fackley Road / Mansfield Road) from the roundabout by the Stanton Hill Coop
down to the junction with Gilcroft Street; he agreed to provide the wording of a complaint
that could be submitted to Notts C.C. complaint process; Louise Causer highlighted that
she had seen reasonable success with complaints about specific pot holes logged using the
MyNotts phone app

9.    Liveability Campaign – Lis Reid

(the degree to which a place is suitable or good for living in)
Lis Reid reported the following:
a. Lis apologies that she had been unable to make any substantive progress in this
since the last meeting due to a number of personal / family issues, but that she now
hoped to be able to give the project the focus she wanted
b. The Draft Ashfield Local Plan seems to be dead in the water with no discernible
activity
c. The two large development sites in the ADC area with a total of around 3,000 new
dwellings appear to be going ahead
d. Under the Draft Local Plan the Neighbourhood Forum area was expected to take a
large proportion of the remaining new dwellings, and as a consequence we now see
to have become a ‘honeypot’ for new planning applications
e. Despite our official status, the Neighbourhood Forum is not getting a lot of traction
with the Council or developers regarding planning applications
f. We should use the upcoming local elections as an opportunity to challenge
candidates about their policies on developments and the necessary supporting
services (health, education, roads, public transport, etc)
g. Lis hopes to have an outline for the campaign by the end of January

10.    AGM matters

a. Election of officers – there being no other nominations, the current officers were
re-elected:
Chairman – Andrew Jenkins
Secretary – Geoff Snare
Treasurer – Terry Whitehead
b. Election of management committee members – there being no other nominations
the current members were all re-elected:
Mike Vardy, Richard Goad, Lynn Henstock, Lis Reid, Chris Goodall, Jane Cooper

10.    Any Other Business

a. Mike Vardy highlighted that we are getting less and less engagement from ADC
officers, primarily because they are constantly changing plus their roles keep
changing, with many officers providing absolutely minimal interaction/engagement
with the Forum
Louise Causer advised that she was in the process of raising an official complaint
with the Local Council ombudsman regarding the lack of responses from certain
departments within ADC
b. Louise Causer advised that she was planning to undertake a new survey of Stanton
Hill residents and asked for any suggestions for survey questions
c. Jane Cooper raised the lack of participation in the forum and offered to provide
suitable communication for publicising future Forum meetings and activities; she
also suggested that the next Forum meeting should be in-person to help raise
awareness and interest, perhaps with a focus on the Liveability Campaign / Local
elections

11.    Next Meeting.
The next Forum meeting will be held on Wednesday May 3rd from 7pm. If sufficient
progress has been made on the Liveability Campaign, we will consider holding an in-person
meeting probably at All Saints Church Hall, Skegby, otherwise the meeting will be online via
Zoom.

Attendees were thanked for their input to the meeting which closed at 8.35 pm.
 

The Forum is recognised by Ashfield District Council as the representative body for Skegby, Stanton Hill and Teversal and Forum working groups are dealing with a number of issues affecting our area.
Anyone who lives or works in Teversal, Stanton Hill and Skegby is entitled to be a member of the Forum and attend its meetings. To become a Forum member please visit our website